Employers in Iowa logged 6 WARN Act notices in January 2009, involving roughly 616 workers — climbing above December and up 152% versus January 2008. The average filing covered 103 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Government | 1 | 94 |
The Government sector dominated layoff filings with 94 workers across 1 notice.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Howard | 1 | 209 |
| Clay | 1 | 160 |
| Polk | 2 | 156 |
| Washington | 1 | 91 |
| Wapello | 1 | 0 |
Howard absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 34% of all affected workers with 209 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Cresco | 1 | 209 |
| Spencer | 1 | 160 |
| Des Moines | 1 | 94 |
| Washington | 1 | 91 |
| Urbandale | 1 | 62 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 3 | 316 |
| Layoff | 2 | 300 |
The high proportion of closures (51% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Iowa's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Featherlite, Inc | Cresco | 209 | Layoff | 2009-01-14 |
| RR Donnelley | Spencer | 160 | Closure | 2009-01-13 |
| Cahaba Government Benefit Admi | Des Moines | 94 | Closure | 2009-01-29 |
| Whitesell Corporation | Washington | 91 | Layoff | 2009-01-25 |
| Lennox Industries, Inc | Urbandale | 62 | Closure | 2009-01-27 |
| Clow Valve Company | Oskaloosa | N/A | 2009-01-16 |
The biggest impact was at Featherlite, Inc at its Cresco facility, reporting 209 affected workers. RR Donnelley followed with 160 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Iowa labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Government sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Iowa. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is updated daily by WARN Firehose. View all Iowa WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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